Pre-Battle Diplomacy: US, Ukraine Craft Game Plan in Saudi Arabia Before US-Russia Talks
Pre-Battle Diplomacy
Pre-Battle Diplomacy : Separate meetings between Russian and Ukrainian delegations and their American counterparts are taking place in Riyadh.As part of peace talks mediated by US President Donald Trump’s administration, U.S. and Ukrainian delegations have been meeting in Saudi Arabia.
Rustem Umerov, Ukraine’s defense minister in Riyadh, announced late Sunday that “productive” negotiations had come to an end.In a previous televised remark, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated, “Our team is working in a completely constructive manner.” The discussion is very beneficial, and the delegations’ work is still ongoing.
However, we must convince [Russian President Vladimir] Putin to issue a formal order to halt the strikes, regardless of what we say to our allies today. “Whoever started this war has to end it,” he declared.
At the start of the negotiations, Umerov stated that the two sides were talking about defending vital infrastructure and energy facilities against attacks. The scope of a temporary truce has been controversial, with Moscow and Kyiv expressing different ideas.(Pre-Battle Diplomacy)
Ahead of these crucial negotiations to end the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, US special envoy Steve Witkoff told Fox News on Sunday that he thought Putin wanted peace. Witkoff continued, “I just don’t see that he wants to take all of Europe.”
US-Russia Talks Loom as Russia Unleashes Deadly Drone Barrage on Ukraine : (Pre-Battle Diplomacy)
On Monday, the US and Russian delegations will have separate meetings in Riyadh.
As Zelenskyy called on his Western partners to increase pressure on Moscow to stop its strikes on Ukraine ahead of the peace talks, at least seven people have been murdered in overnight Russian drone attacks in Ukraine.
According to the city’s military administration, a drone assault in the capital Kyiv killed three people, including a five-year-old kid, and injured ten more on Sunday.(Pre-Battle Diplomacy)
Regional Governor Vadym Filashkin reported that Russian attacks in the Donetsk region killed four persons, including three who perished in an attack on the Ukrainian village of Dobropillya, which is on the front line.
Russia sent 147 drones to various Ukrainian districts overnight, according to the Ukrainian Air Force earlier. According to the Air Force, 25 of the drones missed their targets and 97 were shot down.
Zelenskyy claimed in a social media statement that Ukraine experiences attacks like the one in Kyiv on a regular basis.
“Our people were targeted by over 1,580 guided aerial bombs, nearly 1,100 strike drones, and 15 different types of missiles this week alone,” he claimed. “New solutions are required, along with fresh pressure on Moscow to halt this war and these strikes.”
Overnight, Russian forces “destroyed and intercepted” 59 Ukrainian drones, primarily over the Rostov and Astrakhan districts, according to the country’s defense ministry.
Negotiations that are challenging :
Trump said that efforts to prevent the battle from getting worse were “somewhat under control” on Saturday night.
In an interview on Air Force One, the US president told Clay Travis, the creator of the sports website Outkick, that “rational discussions” and having positive relationships with Zelenskyy and Putin were essential to negotiating the end of the war.(Pre-Battle Diplomacy)
Trump met separately with Zelenskyy and Putin this week to discuss putting a stop to the conflict that started in 2022. They occurred weeks after Zelenskyy was chastised at the White House by Trump and his vice president, JD Vance.
Although Trump’s goal of securing a full 30-day truce was not achieved during the negotiations, Zelenskyy accepted Putin’s agreement to halt Russian strikes on energy infrastructure during that time. However, since reaching a consensus, both parties have accused one another of focusing on energy locations.
Kremlin Signals Prolonged Negotiations, Grain Exports Take Center Stage :
On Sunday, the Kremlin played down hopes for a speedy settlement of the war in Ukraine, claiming that “difficult negotiations” were still to come.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Russian state television that “we are only at the beginning of this path.”(Pre-Battle Diplomacy)
He stated that a potential 2022 grain agreement that guaranteed safe passage for Ukrainian agricultural exports in the Black Sea would be Russia’s “main” emphasis in its discussions with the US.
In 2023, Moscow withdrew from the agreement, which was mediated by Turkiye and the UN, claiming that the West had not fulfilled its pledge to reduce sanctions on Russia’s own exports of fertilizer and agricultural goods.
The head of the Russian delegation, Senator Grigory Karasin, had told the Defense Ministry’s Zvezda TV channel that they “hope to achieve at least some progress” during the meeting.
(Pre-Battle Diplomacy)
